Computer program product

ABSTRACT

An object of the present invention is to impose a penalty on a player, without causing a sudden deceleration, when a moving body moving on a course formed in a virtual space contacts a sidewall at the edge of the course. To achieve this object, assume that a vehicle running on a course formed in a virtual space has contacted a sidewall at point A which corresponds to the 0 th  frame. Whereupon, at point B which corresponds to the 1 st  frame, an amount, Rf, is subtracted from vehicle speed V, and from the 2 nd  frame until point C which corresponds to the 60t th  frame, processing to subtract RSd from vehicle speed V is successively performed.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to a computer program product inwhich a game program is recorded whereby the game develops as a movingbody moves on a course formed in a virtual space, in response tomanipulation by a player.

[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0004] Conventionally, game apparatuses are proposed whereby, for avirtual vehicle running on a course formed in a virtual space, the pitchangle, yaw angle, roll angle, running speed, acceleration, etc. of thevehicle are simulated from its movement, acceleration, road surfaceresistance, centrifugal force, moment of inertia, etc., in response tothe player's inputted manipulations of the steering wheel, accelerator,brakes, gear shift, etc. By displaying the resulting vehicle movement onthe game screen, a racing game is developed. In such racing games,sidewalls are provided, such as fences, guard rails, concrete walls,etc. on the edge of the course, as the vehicles race along on thecourse.

[0005] However, with conventional game equipment, as shown in FIGS. 5and 6, players, in order to travel the shortest possible course, can ramtheir vehicle 40 into sidewall 51 on the inner side of a corner andskillfully make it slide in contact therewith, thus causing vehicle 40to decelerate due to the resistance from friction with sidewall 51,enabling very fast cornering. This cheating technique, based on “insiderknowledge,” has become widespread among advanced players. Takingadvantage of this technique, a racing technique becomes possible whichcould never exist with a real vehicle and, however much one says “it's agame,” this technique is not desirable in a race game which faithfullysimulates the movement of an actual vehicle.

[0006] For this reason, conventional game equipment is programmed suchthat, in the case that vehicle 40 comes into contact with sidewall 51,the speed of vehicle 40 decelerates. FIG. 7 shows the flow chart whichdescribes the deceleration processing for vehicle 40 that occurs whenvehicle 40 comes into contact with sidewall 51. As shown in the samefigure, with a conventional game program, vehicle 40 running processing(S20) is done, and if it is detected (S21; YES) that vehicle 40 has madecontact with sidewall 51, deceleration processing (S22) of speed V ofvehicle 40 is done by the amount of Rf. If vehicle 40 contacts sidewall51 at point A, then through this deceleration processing, as shown inFIG. 8, in the frame (frame 1) following the frame (frame 0) displayedat the time of contact, an image is displayed of vehicle 40 passingpoint B at a speed of V-Rf. Since images are displayed on the display atthe rate of 60 frames per second, vehicle 40, by contacting sidewall 51,undergoes a sudden deceleration of vehicle speed in the interval of oneframe.

[0007] However, if for the purpose of detering the above mentioned“insider technique,” vehicle speed is caused to decelerate suddenly whenvehicle 40 contacts sidewall 51, that can cause the fresh feeling of thegame to be lost and is thus undesirable. In particular, if, to controluse of the above-mentioned insider technique by advanced players, asudden and large deceleration is applied as the penalty when thesidewall is contacted, beginners will be negatively impacted. Beginners,because of their undeveloped skill level, may contact the sidewallthrough a mistake in vehicle operation. Thus, if even in such casesbeginners are subjected to the same kind of penalty, that may cause themto lose their zest for game play. Thus, what is desired is developmentof a technology which controls the insider technique of advancedplayers, while maintaining exciting race development to stimulate theenthusiasm of beginners for the game play, even though they are notskilled in operation. In addition, even in cases where a shortcut istaken, driving off the course, if sudden deceleration is applied as thepenalty, as described above, that results in spoiling the player'senthusiasm for play.

[0008] To deal with this, the present invention, for a game which has amoving body moving on a course formed in a virtual space, in response tomanipulation by a player, provides a computer program product in which agame program is recorded which enables a penalty to be assessed when themoving body contacts the sidewall at the edge of the course, suchpenalty being applied through an appropriate means without causingsudden deceleration and without spoiling beginners' enthusiasm for play.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0009] The computer program product of the present invention which seeksto solve the above-mentioned problem is a computer program product inwhich a program for causing execution of game processing by a computersystem is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium. Theabove-mentioned computer program is one which causes execution of thefollowing steps: the step of causing a moving body to move on a courseformed in a virtual space, in response to manipulation by a player; thestep of determining the total amount of running load to be applied toabove-mentioned moving body when above-mentioned moving body contactsthe partition-indicating body formed at the edge of the course toseparate the area within the course from the area outside; and the stepof dividing above-mentioned running load on a per unit time basis or perunit distance basis and allocating the divided load for each unit timeor unit distance over a specific time or specific distance whenabove-mentioned moving body moves after contacting thepartition-indicating body. In this way, if a moving body moving on acourse contacts the sidewall at the edge of the course, it is possibleto apply a penalty to the player, without a sudden deceleration.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010]FIG. 1 shows an external view of the configuration of a gameapparatus according to the present invention;

[0011]FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of a game apparatus according to thepresent invention;

[0012]FIG. 3 is a flow chart indicating the vehicle decelerationprocessing;

[0013]FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the vehicle decelerationprocessing;

[0014]FIG. 5 is an example of a game screen;

[0015]FIG. 6 is an example of a game screen;

[0016]FIG. 7 is a flow chart indicating the vehicle decelerationprocessing; and

[0017]FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of the vehicle decelerationprocessing.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0018] Below, embodiments are described while referring to the figures.

[0019]FIG. 1 shows a coin-operated game apparatus installed at anentertainment facility such as a game center. Game apparatus 10 isconfigured to comprise seat 11 on which the player sits; control panel12 on which are positioned a speedometer, tachometer, etc.; steeringwheel 12 for controlling the steering angle of the front wheels; gearshift lever 14 for performing gear shifting; and display 15 fordisplaying game scenes. The player sits in seat 11, and the racedevelops as the player operates steering wheel 13, accelerator, brakepedal, gear shift lever 14, etc. driving the vehicle on the coursedisplayed on display 11.

[0020]FIG. 2 is a block diagram of game apparatus 10. Game apparatus 10is primarily a computer system configured of input equipment 20, maincontrol unit 30, display 15 and speaker 16. Input equipment 20 functionsas a racing game operating means to be operated by the player andincludes the steering wheel, accelerator, brake pedal, and gear shiftlever. Operating signals are outputted from input equipment 20 to maincontrol unit 30, and in main control unit 30 image data to be displayedon display 11 and sound data to be outputted from speaker 16 aregenerated. Control unit 30 includes main CPU 31, work memory 32, busarbiter 33, program memory 34, rendering processor 35, frame memory 36,audio processor 37, and audio memory 38.

[0021] Operating signals are sent from input equipment 20 to main CPU 31via bus arbiter 33. Main CPU 31 loads the game program from programmemory 34 which stores the game program and develops the game in workmemory 32. Then, based on each kind of operating signal outputted frominput equipment 20 via bus arbiter 33, the image of the vehicle bodywhich is to be formed in the virtual space is converted into an image asviewed from a specified viewpoint and plotting commands are issued torendering processor 25. Rendering processor 35, following the plottingcommands issued by main CPU 31, performs polygon rendering and, by meansof double buffering, stores image data in frame memory 36 and also readsimage data from frame memory 36, performs D/A conversion and displaysthe result on display 11. Audio processor 37, following sound commandsissued from main CPU 31, generates sound data, writes it into audiomemory 38, and also reads audio data from audio memory 38, performs D/Aconversion and outputs the result from speaker 16.

[0022]FIG. 3 is a flow chart indicating vehicle deceleration processingin a race game when vehicle 40 contacts sidewall 51 which is formedalong the edge of course 50 and partitions the inside of the course fromthe outside. Main CPU 31 performs processing for normal vehicle running(S10) for the race game, and when the CPU determines that vehicle 40 hascollided with sidewall 51 built at the edge of the course (S11), the CPUcalculates deceleration parameters Rf and RS from the vehicle speed atthe time of collision, the sidewall hardness (that unique hardness of aconcrete wall, fence, or etc.) the contact angle at the time ofcollision, the vehicle weight, etc., and performs calculation (S14) ofV=V−Rf, RS=RS+R−Rf, and RSd=RS/60t. Here, Rf is the decelerationresistance at the time of the collision, RS is the sum of thedeceleration resistance applied to vehicle 40 due to the collision withsidewall 51, V is the vehicle speed of vehicle 40, t is the timeduration for application of the deceleration resistance (for example, 10seconds).

[0023] On the other hand, in the case that vehicle 40, running on course50, does not contact sidewall 51, that is, when (S11: NO), RS>0, then(S12: YES) and RSd is deducted from vehicle speed V and RSd is deductedfrom RS (S13). Because steps S10 through S14 are executed for eachframe, once vehicle 40 collides with sidewall 51, processing step S13 isrepeated for each frame until RS becomes 0, and upon each repetition,RSd is subtracted from V. If the time for RS to reach 0 is set at t, thesteps S10 through S14 will be repeated 60t times.

[0024] An explanation of above-mentioned deceleration processing withreference to FIG. 4 is as follows. Assume that vehicle 40 running oncourse 50 contacted sidewall 51, which is at the edge of the course, atpoint A (S11: YES). If the frame number of the frame displayed at thattime is taken as frame 0, at point B, which corresponds to 1 frame,deceleration resistance Rf will be subtracted from vehicle speed V(S14). In addition, RS is found from road surface resistance R of course50 and deceleration resistance Rf (S14). Then, in order to drive vehicle40 on course 50, over the span from 2 frame to point C at 60t frame,without contacting sidewall 51 (S11: NO), in each frame, RSd issuccessively subtracted from vehicle speed V (S13). In other words, RSdis successively subtracted from the vehicle speed V at each unit timewhich would normally have been obtained from the combined force of thepositive acceleration force due to the amount of the player'sapplication of the accelerator and the negative acceleration force dueto various kinds of resistance to vehicle running such as road surfaceresistance, air resistance, etc. if sidewall 51 had not been contacted.Afterward, at point C, corresponding to 60t frame, RS becomes 0 and thedeceleration processing steps are completed.

[0025] In this way, when vehicle 40 contacts sidewall 51, thedeceleration resistance which vehicle 40 receives is applied by beingallocated to each frame across 60t frames. As a result, a penalty can beassessed while avoiding sudden deceleration caused by collision withsidewall 51 and without consequently losing the freshness of the racegame.

[0026] Note that in the above-mentioned example, a configuration wasshown in which a fixed amount of speed was subtracted from vehicle speedin each frame unit, as an example, but the present invention is notlimited to this. For example, acceleration could be reduced by making itso that even if the player pushed on the accelerator, vehicle 40 wouldnot accelerate for a set time interval; an upper limit could be placedon movement acceleration; the road surface resistance of course 50 couldbe increased; air resistance could be increased; the runningfunctionality of vehicle 40 could be reduced; or, through any othermeans, a configuration could be made which applies a running load duringa fixed time interval. In addition, in the above-mentioned example, acase was shown in which a running load was applied, allocated to eachframe (each time unit), spanning 60t frames, but the present inventionis not limited to this. For example, a configuration could be made inwhich the total amount of running load was divided and allocated to eachdistance unit traveled by the moving body. In addition, it is notnecessary that the running load (the divided running load units) appliedto the moving body all be applied uniformly; it may instead be arrangedthat the running load applied to moving body 40 immediately after movingbody 40's contact with sidewall 51 is made to be large, and each timemoving body 40 moves for a certain number of time units (or over acertain number of distance units), the running load is graduallydecreased.

[0027] Further, as a variation of the above-described embodiment, mainCPU 31 may configured to determine player skill level from player's laptime, number of crashes, number of times another vehicle is overtaken,average speed, vehicle speed when it contacts sidewall 51 (or when thevehicle runs off the course), angle of impact when it collides withsidewall 51, angle at which it runs off the course whenever that eventoccurs, etc. Then the CPU may be configured to determine the value ofRS, the deceleration parameter, and t, the time until RS goes to 0,based on that skill level.

[0028] Main CPU 31 can change the degree of the penalty depending onskill level by establishing large values of RS and t for the case thatan advanced player contacts sidewall 51 or runs off the course and smallvalues of RS and t for the case of a beginner. To do this, the CPUconsiders as “advanced players” those “players who have the best laptime,” “players who have a small number of crashes,” “players who oftenovertake other vehicles,” “players with high average speed,” “playerswhose vehicle speed is high when they contact sidewall 51 (or, when theyrun off the course),” “players whose speed is high when cornering,”“players whose angle of impact with the sidewall is shallow,” and“players who have a high running position or ranking when severalplayers race.” In this way, the CPU functions as a skill leveldetermining means and a running load determining means, and in the casethat player skill level is above a certain level, that player is judgedan “advanced player,” while in the case that player skill level does notmeet that level, that player is judged a “beginning player.” Then theCPU determines the running load depending on the skill level of theplayer.

[0029] In addition, in the above-mentioned example, decelerationprocessing for the case that vehicle 40 contacts sidewall 51 wasexplained, but the present patent is not limited to this; decelerationprocessing can also be applied to the case that vehicle 40 runs off thecourse. In this case the conditions must be established that no sidewall51 is provided on course 50 and vehicle 40 can run outside the course.In a race game, if an advanced player, trying to shorten his lap time,intentionally (or a beginner, through mistaken operation of the steeringwheel) short cuts the inside of the corner and runs outside of course50, main CPU 31 calculates the running distance, from the travel pathwhich vehicle 40 ran outside the course, and also calculates, from thenumber of frames plotted, the running time. Main CPU 31 functions as arunning load determining means and determines, from the running distanceand running time which occurred outside the course, values for RS and twhich are the deceleration parameters.

[0030] These deceleration parameters should make the running load biggerthe longer the running distance and running time occurring outside thecourse, thus applying a larger penalty to the player, so it ispreferable that the values of RS and t should both be set to largevalues. Additionally, the difference between the running distance ofvehicle 40 when it ran on the short cut and shortest distance on thecourse connecting the two endpoints of the course part which wasbypassed may be found and the values of RS and t set corresponding tothe size of that difference. When vehicle 40 returns to the course, mainCPU 31 divides deceleration resistance RSd on a per-frame basis anapplies it to vehicle 40 in each frame until RS reaches 0. The specificsteps of deceleration processing are done in the same manner as theexample explained above (FIG. 3 and FIG. 4). As examples of a runningload, processing such as subtracting a fixed amount of speed during eachtime unit, or limiting acceleration to a fixed limit, or limiting themaximum value of vehicle speed may be done. According to thisprocessing, once a vehicle 40 runs off the course, the penalty accordingto the running distance traveled or running time is applied in smallincrements after the vehicle has returned to the track. Thus there is nosudden deceleration when a vehicle goes off the course, and short cutoperations of advanced players can be effectively controlled withoutspoiling the beginner's enthusiasm for play.

[0031] In addition, the game program which performs the above-mentioneddeceleration processing can be recorded in a computer-readable recordingmedium and distributed in the market. As examples of this kind ofrecording medium, there are optical recording media (recording mediafrom which data may be read optically, such as CD-RAM, CD-ROM, DVD-RAM,DVD-ROM, DVD-R, PD disk, MD disk, MO disk, etc.); magnetic recordingmedia (recording media from which data may be read magnetically, such asflexible disk, magnetic card, magnetic tape, etc.); memory cartridgeshaving memory elements (semiconductor memory elements such as DRAM's,and high dielectric memory elements, such as FRAM's); etc.

[0032] In addition, this kind of game program can be delivered“on-demand” from a network server, such as a Web server, etc., inresponse to a request from a client device (personal computer, gamemachine, portable information terminal, etc.) connected to the Internetor to an open network, such as a packet communication network, etc.Further, as for types of games, these need not be limited to car racegames, but the invention may also be applied to motorbike races, bicycleraces, motor boat races, etc. As for types of moving bodies, these mayinclude vehicles in which people ride, such as automobiles, motorbikes,bicycles, boats, airplanes, space craft, ships, wagons, tractors, tanks,etc., but may also include people, animals, monsters, spacemen, plants,fish, birds and insects, and also characters representing them, etc. Inthis way, any character which can run on a course formed in any desiredvirtual space on land, in water, in the ground, in space, etc. isacceptable.

[0033] By means of this invention, in the event that a moving body,moving on a course formed in a virtual space contacts the sidewall atthe edge of the course or runs off the course, the penalty assessed tothe player can be divided and applied on a per unit time basis. As aresult, the same penalty amount as with conventional games can begradually applied, without a sudden deceleration, and in this way the“insider techniques” of advanced players can be effectively controlledwithout spoiling the play enthusiasm of beginners.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer program product in which a program forcausing a computer system to execute game processing is recorded on acomputer-readable recording medium, said computer program causingexecution of the steps of: moving a moving body on a course formed in avirtual space, in response to a player's operations; determining thetotal amount of running load to be applied to said moving body when saidmoving body contacts a partition-indicating body formed along the edgeof the course to partition the inside of the course from the outside;and dividing said running load on a per unit time or per unit distancebasis and allocating the divided load for each unit time or unitdistance over a specified time period or specified distance during themovement of said moving body following said moving body's contact withsaid partition-indicating body.
 2. A computer program product in which aprogram for causing a computer system to execute game processing isrecorded on a computer-readable recording medium, said computer programcausing execution of the steps of: moving a moving body on a courseformed in a virtual space, in response to a player's operations; andsubtracting a fixed amount of speed from the moving speed of the movingbody for each unit time or each unit distance, over a specified timeperiod or specified distance, when said moving body contacts apartition-indicating body formed along the edge of the course topartition the inside of the course from the outside.
 3. A computerprogram product in which a program for causing a computer system toexecute game processing is recorded on a computer-readable recordingmedium, said computer program causing execution of the steps of: movinga moving body on a course formed in a virtual space, in response to aplayer's operations; and limiting the movement acceleration of themoving body to a fixed limit, over a specified time period or distance,when said moving body contacts a partition-indicating body formed alongthe edge of the course to partition the inside of the course from theoutside.
 4. A computer program product in which a program for causing acomputer system to execute game processing is recorded on acomputer-readable recording medium, said computer program causingexecution of the steps of: moving a moving body on a course formed in avirtual space, in response to a player's operations; and limiting themoving speed of the moving body to an upper limit, over a specified timeperiod or specified distance, when said moving body contacts apartition-indicating body formed along the edge of the course topartition the inside of the course from the outside.
 5. The computerprogram product of any one of claims 1 through 4, wherein said edge ofthe course is the edge of the inside of a curve.
 6. A computer programproduct in which a program for causing a computer system to execute gameprocessing is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium, saidcomputer program causing execution of the steps of: moving a moving bodyon a course formed in a virtual space, in response to a player'soperations; determining the total amount of running load to be appliedto said moving body when said moving body runs off the course; anddividing said running load on a per unit time or per unit distance basisand allocating the divided load for each unit time or unit distance,over a specified time period or specified distance, when said movingbody returns from outside the course to inside the course.
 7. A computerprogram product in which a program for causing a computer system toexecute game processing is recorded on a computer-readable recordingmedium, said computer program causing execution of the steps of: movinga moving body on a course formed in a virtual space, in response to aplayer's operations; determining a fixed amount of speed to besubtracted from the moving speed of the moving body per unit time whensaid moving body runs off the course; and subtracting said fixed amountof speed from the moving speed of the moving body for each unit time oreach unit distance, over a specified time period or specified distance,when said moving body returns from outside the course to inside thecourse.
 8. A computer program product in which a program for causing acomputer system to execute game processing is recorded on acomputer-readable recording medium, said computer program causingexecution of the steps of: moving a moving body on a course formed in avirtual space, in response to a player's operations; determining a limitvalue for limiting acceleration of said moving body to a fixed limitwhen said moving body runs off the course; and limiting the movementacceleration of the moving body to said limit, over a specified timeperiod or specified distance, when said moving body returns from outsidethe course to inside the course.
 9. A computer program product in whicha program for causing a computer system to execute game processing isrecorded on a computer-readable recording medium, said computer programcausing execution of the steps of: moving a moving body on a courseformed in a virtual space, in response to a player's operations;determining an upper limit value for moving speed of said moving bodywhen said moving body runs off the course; and limiting the upper limitof the moving speed of the moving body, over a specified time period orspecified distance, when said moving body returns from outside thecourse to inside the course.
 10. A computer program product in which aprogram for causing a computer system to execute game processing isrecorded on a computer-readable recording medium, said computer programcausing execution of the steps of: moving a moving body on a courseformed in a virtual space, in response to a player's operations;determining a running load to be applied to said moving bodycorresponding to the running distance and/or the running time for whichthe moving body is off the course, when said moving body runs off thecourse; and dividing said running load on a per unit time or per unitdistance basis and allocating the divided running load for each unittime or unit distance over a specified time period or specifieddistance, when said moving body returns from outside the course toinside the course.
 11. A computer program product in which a program forcausing a computer system to execute game processing is recorded on acomputer-readable recording medium, said computer program causingexecution of the steps of: moving a moving body on a course formed in avirtual space, in response to a player's operations; determining anupper limit value for moving speed of said moving body corresponding tothe running distance and/or the running time for which the moving bodyis off the course, when said moving body runs off the course; andlimiting the upper limit of the moving speed of the moving body, over aspecified time period or specified distance, when said moving bodyreturns from outside the course to inside the course.
 12. A computerprogram product in which a program for causing a computer system toexecute game processing is recorded on a computer-readable recordingmedium, said computer program causing execution of the steps of: movinga moving body on a course formed in a virtual space, in response to aplayer's operations; determining the running load to be applied to saidmoving body in the case that the distance traveled by said moving bodyoff the course is shorter than the distance on the part of the trackbypassed, when said moving body runs off the course; and dividing saidrunning load on a per unit time or per unit distance basis andallocating the divided load for each unit time or unit distance over aspecified time period or specified distance, when said moving bodyreturns from outside the course to inside the course.
 13. A computerprogram product in which a program for causing a computer system toexecute game processing is recorded on a computer-readable recordingmedium, said computer program causing execution of the steps of: movinga moving body on a course formed in a virtual space, in response to aplayer's operations; determining the skill level of the player;determining the total amount of running load to be applied to saidmoving body, depending on the player skill level, when said moving bodycontacts a partition-indicating body formed along the edge of a courseto partition the inside of the course from the outside; and dividingsaid running load on a per unit time or per unit distance basis andallocating the divided load for each unit time or unit distance over aspecified time period or specified distance during the movement of saidmoving body following said moving body's contact with saidpartition-indicating body.
 14. A computer program product in which aprogram for causing a computer system to execute game processing isrecorded on a computer-readable recording medium, said computer programcausing execution of the steps of: moving a moving body on a courseformed in a virtual space, in response to a player's operations;determining the skill level of the player based on any of the averagemoving speed, running position, lap time, angle of impacting the sidewall, number of times of overtaking other moving bodies, or number ofcrashes of the moving body; determining the total amount of running loadto be applied to said moving body, depending on the player skill level,when said moving body contacts a partition-indicating body formed alongthe edge of a course to partition the inside of the course from theoutside; and dividing said running load on a per unit time or per unitdistance basis and allocating the divided load for each unit time orunit distance over a specified time period or specified distance duringthe movement of said moving body following said moving body's contactwith said partition-indicating body.
 15. A computer program product inwhich a program for causing a computer system to execute game processingis recorded on a computer-readable recording medium, said computerprogram causing execution of the steps of: moving a moving body on acourse formed in a virtual space, in response to a player's operations;determining the skill level of the player; setting the total amount ofrunning load to be applied to said moving body at a larger amount, onthe condition that the player's skill level exceeds a predeterminedlevel, when said moving body contacts a partition-indicating body formedalong the edge of a course to partition the inside of the course fromthe outside; and dividing said running load on a per unit time or perdistance unit basis and allocating the divided load for each unit timeor unit distance over a specified time period or specified distanceduring the movement of said moving body following said moving body'scontact with said partition-indicating body.
 16. A computer programproduct in which a program for causing a computer system to execute gameprocessing is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium, saidcomputer program causing execution of the steps of: moving a moving bodyon a course formed in a virtual space, in response to a player'soperations; determining the skill level of the player; setting the totalamount of running load to be applied to said moving body at a smalleramount, on the condition that the player's skill level does not exceed apredetermined level, when said moving body contacts apartition-indicating body formed along the edge of a course to partitionthe inside of the course from the outside; and dividing said runningload on a per unit time or per distance unit basis and allocating thedivided load for each unit time or unit distance over a specified timeperiod or specified distance during the movement of said moving bodyfollowing said moving body's contact with said partition-indicatingbody.